Best recommended system

[Milan]

Can anyone recommend a company I may use to buy my next Desktop PC? Who gives the best customer service, support and quality of product?

Please help!

 

[1nteger]

Personally, one of the best things i ever did was build my own system, and now I would never buy off the shelf again. Even if i couldn't build it myself, i'd spec up all the components seperately and get someone else to put it together. The main problem with full systems retail is that you can often get what sounds like a good top end machine, but the actual components are 'budget' hardware. For example, there are many graphics cards called, say, GeForce4, but this is just the chipset on the board - loads of different companies tweaking them differently...add different coolers and stuff, so they can vary in performance quite a lot. In addition, you end up paying for 'technical support' and this is often one of the bits they charge through the nose for! Learn to put your own together (and it isn't that hard) and you will probably never need to pay for technical support again...just use forums like this one!!

Anyway...it would be useful to know where u r based (UK, US, Canada?) and roughly how much you want to pay, and what your likely pc uses are...gaming, web, graphic design, etc?

(PS: I happen to know of an excellent system that's going to be available soon and from an excellent outlet called....'Me'!! )

 

[muckshifter]

As 1nt says, more and more people are "building your own".

I cannot recommend any propriety built system they ALL have a way of grabbing your testicles and not letting go. For every £1500 system "they" sell, you could build for £1000 & have better components.

What are you going to use it for?
How much have you in the kitty?

If you do have to buy “ready made” give us the “Spec” before you buy and we’ll tell you if it is a good buy.

Don't throw your money away too quickly.

 

[1nteger]

...unless of course you throw it my direction

 

[Milan]

I mainly use Office, (Word, excel, publisher and powerpoint)

I want to be able to download music on to CD etc. as well as edit digital video and photos and again record onto CD.

As well as surf the net with a decent amount of spead.... just waiting for broadband to be available in my area ....St. Albans, UK.

My buget is around £1000

 

[muckshifter]

This is what I came up with if I have to buy off the shelf.

Dell Dimension 4550
With the "updates" you would neet to do the job comes in at £1097 ... not bad for an Inhell system

An AMD system would cost £800 if you build it yourself.

Could you build yourself?

 

[Milan]

I don't mind trying to build my own but not sure where to start.

 

[1nteger]

Mmmmm...Dell? Not sure about that..I always thought Dell do something to their machines that don't allow upgrades (I read it somewhere recently and I'll check it out to remind myself what it was).

I know three different people who have baught Evesham machines...all very happy with what they got, service and support etc, plus their pc's seems to be pretty good spec for price.

I spoke about building your own system, and while it's relatively easy, it's often not plain sailing. Actually assembling the parts is usually the easiest bit. The problems start if the thing doesn't power up, for example...troubleshooting and getting disks formatted, partitioned, and software installed may be a little more involved.

I have a half-written guide on PC assembly that I put together for my own use...just to remind me of how it all fixed together! If anyone's interested, I could submit that for people to scrutinise and comment on...I'm sure I've put things in there that others would do differently or that are probably just plain wrong.

If it's of interest, perhaps between us (Muckshifter?) we could provide you (Milan) with some ideas of how to build your own.

Worthwhile you think?

 

[Milan]

Definately, would be worth a look.

 

[muckshifter]

Mmmmm...Dell? Not sure about that … I always thought Dell do something to their machines that don't allow upgrades (I read it somewhere recently and I'll check it out to remind myself what it was).

As I said above ... they ALL have you by the proverbial.

Milan, building your own is NOT as daunting as you think … its knowing what to do if you have a problem and finding someone who can help.

There are some good tutorials on the Web and we can certainly help.

We need to get your “list” of components together first then decide who/where to get them from. It may be better if you can get all you need from one supplier but that could cost more if “price” is of an issue.

In your case you’ve set yourself a budget of £1000 … stick to it … you should not need to spend that much and still get a dam good system.

If you think you would prefer to buy “off the shelf” don’t worry … we can still guide you to a good system.

Have a look at http://security.cclcomputers.co.uk/acatalog/
“Ready to go Systems” the Soltek SLKT400 board they use is ok and a good foundation for your needs. You will need to “upgrade” from the basic build they offer but I still got it under £800. They will build it for you or you could save £35 and build it yourself.

Let us know what you think.
Mucks

 

[Milan]

What do think of the
CCL E-STATION X24GT Ref: SYSPREBESTNX24GT
from CCL Computers?

What are the Shuttle SB51G chasis like.

 

[Milan]

What do you think of this spec anyone??

SYSPRECFGA1 Choose your own system (AMD processor based)
£103.84 £103.84
MONCTXVL17 17" CTX VL700 1
£74.00 £74.00
CPUAMDTHB20 AMD AthlonXP PR2000+ (OEM) Thoroughbred 1
£52.47 £52.47
RAMDDRB512ORG 512Mb DDR (PC2700) 333 1
£41.69 £41.69
HDDMXT040GB54 40Gb Maxtor (Fireball) 5400rpm 1
£41.14 £41.14
VGAATIRAD9KRTL 64Mb ATI Radeon 9000 RTL (Sapphire) 1
£44.51 £44.51
CDRSNYCRX220A 52x24x52x Sony CDRW Retail CRX220A 1
£40.36 £40.36
SOFTMSF1 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OEM 1
£57.45 £57.45
DIYINST DIY Assembly Instructions 1
£0.00 £0.00
Subtotal £455.46
VAT £79.70
Total £535.16

 

[muckshifter]

Go for the Soltek SLKT400 motherboard based system.

CTX monitors are ok but see if you can have the 17" Iiyama Vision Master Pro 413 (HM703UT A) 3 Year Warranty - DiamondTron M2 - 0.25ag - 1600x1200@75hz … after all, this is what you’ll be looking at all day.

The AMD 2000+ is fine (you could afford the 2400) … you will need a good HSF (HeatSinkFan) Their Global Win CBKII58 (Skt A) Supports: Duron / Athlon / Athlon XP 2700+ is the best they do but will do the job fine.

The memory is correct, you really do not need anymore, but it can be added later if you do.

The HD is wrong … never pick a 5400, always go for a 7200rpm … The DiamondMax Plus 9 is a good choice, its also an ATA133 HD. Another is the 80Gb W/Digital WD800JB Special Edition WD Caviar - 7200 RPM - 8MB Buffer.
60gigs are cheap, get one.

The Radeon is a good graphic card. Good choice.

I have had a problems with the Sony CDRW’s (they don’t burn everything) … Go for the Lite-On 48x12x48

Nope, not the XP Home Edition … Go for XP Pro, again, you’ll get all the extras that you may need in the Pro version.

Last … is the case … CCL have a very nice one, the “Blue Nokia” Style Midi Tower (350W) Front Access USB ports and a very good 350W PSU

Mucks.

 

[Milan]

What are the Shuttle SB51G chasis like.

They look good and their small size would go down well with my lack of desk space......

 

[muckshifter]

No expansion ... poor cooling ... need a crowbar. :brow:

If anything fails you'll need to replace the MB. :roll:

Tower cases go on the floor.

 

[Milan]

So how about this spec


MONIIYS4314BK 17" Iiyama LCD AS4314UTBK (Black)
£296.00 £296.00
SYSPRECFGA1 Choose your own system (AMD processor based)
£103.84 £103.84
CPUAMDTHB24 AMD AthlonXP PR2400+ (OEM) Thoroughbred 1
£83.82 £83.82
RAMDDRB512ORG 512Mb DDR (PC2700) 333 1
£42.35 £42.35
HDDMXT060GB72 60Gb Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 7200rpm 1
£56.82 £56.82
VGAATIRAD9KRTL 64Mb ATI Radeon 9000 RTL (Sapphire) 1
£44.51 £44.51
CDRTSBDVD1648 Toshiba x16 x48 DVD-ROM (OEM - No Software) 1
£27.69 £27.69
CDRLTO522452RTL 52x24x52 Lite-On Burn-Proof CDRW RTL 1
£36.25 £36.25
SOFTMSF2 Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition OEM 1
£92.57 £92.57
DIYINST DIY Assembly Instructions 1
£0.00 £0.00
Subtotal £783.85
VAT £137.17
Total £921.02


The CCL site allows me to configure this system. I assume if I requested I could obtain Win 2000 pro instead of XP, a different HD if you think its worth it. The case iswhat is givw as standard.

This is based on the mother board you recommended.

 

[muckshifter]

Perfect.

Stick with Win XP Pro, you won't be sorry. XP Pro is Win2000 with muscle.

The case will do, however, I believe it’s has a 300watt PSU ... that may do, but I would recommend you get a 350/450 to replace it.

The 460W Enhance ENS-0246 PSU is ideal for your high consumption systems. You have just enough left in the kitty. LoL

Mucks

 

[1nteger]

Minor point first...the data density on some hard drives nowadays can be so high (say 40+Gb per platter) that they can offset lower rotation speed...in other words a 5400 drive with a higher data density could be faster than a 7200rpm disk with lower data density. This is because the read/write head doesn't have to travel so far to read/write a greater amount of data...but i digress and i don't think it applies to any of the HDD's on offer, and Muckshifter is right anyway...go for 7200 ....On your spec...

Monitor...You could save yourself a lot of money and get far better image quality by going for a CRT monitor rather than LCD. I understand that desk space is limited, but I have a IIyama Vision master pro 1411 17''...absolutely superb picture quality and it doesn't take up too much room on the desk...certainly not enough to justify spending nearly twice as much on a LCD. (Also, games on an LCD will be pretty ropey)

As you are still £80 under your £1K budget (more if you go for a crt monitor), you could still boost your graphics card a bit...definitely the key item to upgrade as there's bound to be at least one game out there that suddenly takes your fancy!

Overall, though, the spec seems to be about right given the options on offer, and if you are going for a full system from one place then this one is probably as good as the next.

It might be worth calling their support desk just to see how fast they respond, and also checking on the things that might void any warranties etc...you want to be able to upgrade something without suddenly finding that you no longer qualify for free repairs etc. Some companies insist that if you have installed a version of an OS that isn't on their list, then that voids the warranty, for example. (I put Win2K on an Evesham pc once and they refused to touch it until I'd wiped the drive and reinstalled the XP thay had provided).

Final piece of advice...ignore everything i say...Muckshifter is far more learned in these matters than I.

 

[Milan]

Thanks guys this is all really helpful stuff.

Intel or AMD??? pros and cons... I've always had a PC with Intel inside as I've thought in the past AMD weren't that good. Am I mistaken now, are they just as good. I think i have also always over paid out of lack of knowledge.

The monitor thing makes sence.

The below spec is even cheaper.


SYSPRECFGA2 Choose your own system (Intel processor based)
£87.44 £87.44
CPUINTP4G26R533 2.6Ghz Intel P4 Retail (Skt 478 533Mhz FSB) 1
£164.73 £164.73
RAMDDR512MJ 512Mb DDR (PC2100) 266 1
£39.38 £39.38
HDDMXT060GB72 60Gb Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 7200rpm 1
£56.82 £56.82
VGAATIRAD9KRTL 64Mb ATI Radeon 9000 RTL (Sapphire) 1
£44.51 £44.51
CDRLTO522452RTL 52x24x52 Lite-On Burn-Proof CDRW RTL 1
£36.25 £36.25
SOFTMSF2 Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition OEM 1
£92.57 £92.57
DIYINST DIY Assembly Instructions 1
£0.00 £0.00
MONIIY455 19" Iiyama Vision Master Pro 455 (MM904UT)
£193.00 £193.00
Subtotal £714.70
VAT £125.07
Total £839.77

Any further comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[1nteger]

Personally, I'd go for AMD simply because Intel aren't that much better to justify the price difference for equivalent cpu performance in specific applications (in my case, certain games). For now, some things run better on Athlons, and some better on P4's, and while a lot of people insist on having a Pentium 'Inside' they probably wouldn't notice if someone sneaked in overnight and replaced it with an Athlon. The simple truth is that either is a good choice.
As a crude guide, an Athlon 'Thoroughbred' core XP2400+ would cost around £100. The closest P4 in terms of price is something like the Northwood 1.8AGhz at around £120, but the athlon is considered to run at the same as the P4 2.4Ghz (hence the XP2400) so its significantly faster for less money.

Another thing to consider when buying a chip is that it won't be long before your recently purchased Athlon or P4 becomes a lot cheaper or obsolete, so don't buy at the very top end of the scale. Look at the price difference between one chip and the next one up, and compare that with the speed difference...is an extra 10Mhz worth an extra £50? Can you overclock to get that improvement without paying the extra?

Here's one last thing to think about...AMD/Intel will produce a batch of, say 1000 processors and test them to see how many blow up at what speed...say 20 explode at 2.0Mhz, but they all coped fine at 1.8Mhz...so they call them 1.8MHz chips. Then, they make another batch of chips in exactly the same way, but this time, they all seem to run fine at 2MHz..so they decide that these are the 2.0MHz chips and therefore charge you more for them. In fact, one person's 1.8MHz CPU is probably exactly the same as someone else's 2.0MHz CPU...it's just that one came from a batch that survived longer! The real kicker is that the guy who has the 1.8 chip can probably get away with overclocking it far more than the guy who paid extra for the 2MHz chip!!

I hope this helps :spin: